"Cruel and heartless" Mthunzi Banga (24) has been given two life sentences and an additional 26 years for murdering Grahamstown businessman Andrew Jevons and his domestic worker Joyce Manzi in March.
"Cruel and heartless" Mthunzi Banga (24) has been given two life sentences and an additional 26 years for murdering Grahamstown businessman Andrew Jevons and his domestic worker Joyce Manzi in March.
High Court judge Phakamisa Tshiki on Friday said the crimes were "heinous" and that Banga should be removed from society. "The people of Grahamstown should be protected from criminals like Banga," he said.
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The sentencing follows a court hearing in September in which Banga was found guilty on all charges including murder, attempted murder, housebreaking with intent to rob, and robbery with aggravated circumstances.
This comes after he broke into the Jevonses home in Lucas Meyer Avenue in March, where he attacked and killed Andrew and Joyce and seriously injured Andrew’s wife Sophie and passer-by Dereck Hagemann.
Banga was found with a bloody knife in his hands at the Jevonses home which led to his immediate arrest. The reason for the attack is still unknown.
After the attack Banga was arrested and admitted to Fort England Psychiatric Hospital on two occasions after testifying that "a voice in his head" told him to commit the murders and he had been unable to resist.
However, Judge Tshiki described the murders as "a planned attack on innocent defenceless people by a heartless accused" and said that Banga had attacked without justification.
During the sentencing, at which friends and family of the Jevons were present, Banga, who was dressed in khaki pants and a white t-shirt, appeared remorseless as he sat hunched over in the dock. He showed no emotion during the sentencing itself and refused to respond to his defence lawyer when she asked him if he wanted to appeal the sentence.
Sophie was unable to comment at the time of going to press. Andrew was an athletic person and has been described as "a magnetic guy" and a loving husband. Known as a humble person, 52-year-old Joyce Manzi was not supposed to be working on the day she was murdered.
She was a widow and the sole breadwinner for her family. She is survived by her 21-year-old daughter Bulelwa and 16-year-old son Bulelani, who are both still at school.
